Fulcrum lever and spring support for a centrifugal spin tub

ABSTRACT

A SUPPORT ARRANGEMENT FOR A CENTRIFUGAL EXTRACTING TUB SUCH AS A WATER EXTRACTING TUB IN A CLOTHES WASHED WHEREIN A CLOTHES CONTAINING SPIN TUB AND ITS ASSOCIATED DRIVING COMPONENTS ARE MOUNTED ON A SNUBBER PLATE. A PLURALITY OF LEVERS ARE PIVOTALLY SECURED WITHIN A CABINET AND ARE SPRING BIASED INTO ENGAGEMENT WITH THE SNUBBER PLATE THEREBY RESILIENTLY SUPPORTING THE TUB WITHIN THE CABINET.

M. A. MENK Nov. 2, 1m

FULCRUM LEVER AND SPRING SUPPORT FOR A CENTRIFUGAL SPIN TUB Filed July '7) 1970 INVIiN'I (m Wee/r222 Ail/e221! United States Patent 3,616,661 FULCRUM LEVER AND SPRING SUPPORT FOR A CENTRIFUGAL SPIN TUB Melvin A. Menk, Englewood, Ohio, assignor to General Motors Corporation, Detroit, Mich. Filed July 7, 1970, Ser. No. 52,885 Int. Cl. D06f 37/24 US. Cl. 68-23.3 3 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE This invention relates to supporting mechanism for centrifugal extracting spin tubs and more specifically to a plurality of spring biased levers resiliently supporting a spin tub within a clothes Washer cabinet.

Many forms of extracting drum or spin tub supporting structures as well known in the prior art. Several of these structures have been developed to provide a resilient support for the rotating tub while attempting to keep the supporting components size and number to a minimum. A purpose of this invention is to provide a simply constructed mechanism occupying minimum space while reliably resiliently supporting a rotatable spin tub within an appliance cabinet. This purpose is accomplished by securing a plurality of spring biased levers to the cabinet circumferentially around a snubber plate attached to a fixed tub drive shaft housing. The levers are spring biased against the plate providing a desired resilient tub support determined by the force of the lever biasing springs.

Accordingly, a first object of this invention is the provision of a spring biased lever arrangement resiliently supporting a spin tub while simultaneously receiving and dampening vibrations received therefrom.

Another object of this invention is the provision of a spin tub resilient support mechanism configured to consume a minimum space within the cabinet thereby providing for larger tub capacities.

A further object of this invention is the provision of a plurality of spring biased levers supporting a spin tub wherein the force of the springs utilized to bias the levers can readily be varied providing a desired resilience in the supporting mechanism.

A still further object of this invention is the provision of a spin tub spring biased lever supporting mechanism capable of including a spring force sufiicient to eliminate the normal requirement for tub ballast.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is an elevational view, partly in section, showing the supporting mechanism of the subject invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of one embodiment of the; snubber plate of the subject supporting mechanism.

FIG. 3 is a partial elevational view, partly in section, illustrating a modified form of the subject supporting mechanism.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a modified form of the snubber plate utilized in the subject supporting mechanism.

Referring now to FIG. 1, a clothes washing machine is shown including a cabinet 12 containing a stationary water container 14 secured and retained in place by cabinet upper gusset 16. A spin tub 18 is secured to a 3,616,661 Patented Nov. 2., 1971 spin shaft 20 that is selectively driven by electric motor 22 through a conventional drive arrangement generally indicated at 24. An agitator shaft 26 is concentrically disposed within spin shaft 20 and is rigidly connected to agitator 30 as it extends through the lower wall 28 of the spin tub 18. A fixed shaft housing 32 is concentrically disposed about the spin shaft 20 and agitator shaft 26 and is rigidly secured to a snubber plate 34. The upper end 36 of fixed housing 32 receives a boottype flexible seal 38 which is secured within aperture 40 of water container bulkhead 42.

The cabinet 12 comprises an inwardly extending gusset 44, adjacent its lower perimeter 46, containing sup porting feet 48 in a usual manner. A plurality of braces 50 are secured to the gusset 44 of the cabinet 12 circumferentially around the snubber plate 34 at connections 52. Each brace 50 is retained in place by a support rod 54 having one end 56 secured to the midportion of the brace 50 and the other end 58 secured to the gusset 44. The braces 50 having an upward end 60 pivotally supporting a lever 62 intermediate its ends 64 and 66. The lever end 66 has a pad of friction material 68 secured thereto while the other end .64 receives one end of a,

coil spring 70 which is also secured to the gusset 44 at connection 52.

As illustrated in FIGS. 2, 3 and 4; the snubber plate 34 can be of various configuration, the major requirement being that it provides a surface for engagement by the friction pads 68 attached to the supporting levers 62. The configuration of snubber plate 34 in FIG. 2 is substantially disk-shaped while it comprises a flat plate in FIG. 4. The shape of plate 34 can of course be suited to the particular installation and the desired supporting effects relative to weight of the components and dampening characteristics. While these embodiments illustrate utilization of four levers 62 to support the snubber plate 34 and in turn the fixed shaft housing 32 which rotatably supports the spin tub 18 on its upper end 36, it is obvious that any number of such levers could be utilized to provide the desired supporting effect. It is also apparent that the size and force of the springs 70 can be varied to provide a supporting mechanism from a substantially rigid device to a relatively soft device whereby various frequencies could be dampened along with the resilient supporting of the spin tub 18 during its high speed operating conditions.

During operation, the spin tub 18 is driven by the motor 22 when the shaft 20 is engaged by the drive arrangement 24. The tub 18 is supported and rotates upon the upper surface 36 of fixed shaft hOuSing 32 which in turn is resiliently supported through the levers 62 and the springs 70 as a result of the engagement of the levers with the snubber plate 34. Since the driving components including the motor 20 and the drive arrangement 24 are secured to the snubber plate 34, the entire assembly can move axially and angularly relative to the supporting levers 62 against the force of spring 70 adequately supporting the spin tub while simultaneously providing a desired damping of any objectional vibrations occurring during spin or agitating cycles of the appliance.

While only preferred embodiments of subject invention have been described for purposes of illustration only, it is apparent that many modifications of this device may be employed while remaining within the scope of the subject invention as defined by the following appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a centrifugal extracting machine having a spin drum, a spin shaft rotating said drum, a drum supporting mechanism comprising; a fixed spin shaft housing enclosing said spin shaft and rotatably supporting said drum on one end thereof, a snubber plate secured to the other end of said shaft housing, a plurality of snubber plate supporting levers pivotally connected to said cabinet, a first end of said levers movable about said pivotal connection into engagement with said snubber plate, and spring means attached to the other end of said levers and to said cabinet continually urging said first lever ends into engagement with said snubber plate resiliently supporting said drum within said cabinet.

2. In a clothes Washing machine including a water extracting drum rotatably supported within a cabinet, a spin shaft connected to said extracting drum, an agitator shaft, a shaft housing, said agitator shaft and said spin shaft being concentrically disposed within said shaft housing, said extracting drum being rotatably supported upon the upper end of said shaft housing, a drum supporting mechanism comprising; a dish shaped snubber plate secured to the lower end of said spin shaft housing, a plurality of snubber levers pivotally mounted intermediate their ends to the washer cabinet circumferentially around said snubber plate, said snubber supporting levers being pivotally movable to engage one end thereof with said snubber plate, and a spring connected to the other end of said snubber supporting levers and secured to the washer cabinet for continually biasing said snubber supporting levers into engagement with the snubber plate resiliently supporting the spin tub within the washer cabinet.

3. In a clothes washing machine including a water extracting drum rotatably supported within a cabinet, a spin shaft connected to said extracting drum, an agitator shaft, a shaft housing fixedly mounted within said cabinet,

4 said agitator shaft and said spin shaft being concentrically disposed within said shaft housing, said extracting drum being rotatably supported upon the upper end of said shaft housing, a drum supporting mechanism comprising; a flat snubber plate secured to the lower end of said spin shaft housing, a gusset extending inwardly around the lower peripheral edge of said cabinet, and attached thereto, a plurality of braces having a lower end secured to said gusset and an upper end extending angularly upwardly within said cabinet, supporting rods connected to the center of each of said braces and to said cabinet, a plurality of snubber levers each pivotally mounted intermediate their ends to the upper ends of said braces, a

snubber pad of friction material secured to a first end of said levers, and a coil spring connected to a second end of said levers and to said gusset biasing said pads into engagement with the lower side of said snubber plate resiliently supporting said drum within said cabinet.

References Cited WILLIAM I. PRICE, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 233-1 C 

